If you had the opportunity to do it all over again...

[JoyJoy]

Really nothing. I am thankful for the family that I did have. Dad, Mom and Sis are all gone and I am the baby. I overcame polio and was poster child for the March of Dimes. Married and had one son whom the doctors said would never make it to term. Purchased my first home at age 21 just like Ima. Worked as a court stenographer inspite of health problems from age 17 to 31 when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Went back to school and took accounting, medical secretarial, interior decorating and paralegal classes. Encouraged by primary care doctor, psychologist and family attorney to always believe in myself and never look at money and things as the real source of my supply.....to look to God for my inspiration and supply.

Never let the opinions of others deter me from becoming the person I want to become.

Married and relocated and life is good! Have 3 sons now and 1 husband!! LOL

[Newbie]

That's a hard question because the first thing that comes to mind is the excessive credit card usage in college a few years back.

BUT that was a good learning experience and it helped make me responsible with my finances today. Then again, maybe I feel that way because my parents paid tuition so I was able to pay it all off when I started working full-time (no student loans to worry about!)

[Ima saver]

I would have majored in business in college and finished college. I was going for free.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Gulp, this makes a lump in my throat but what I would do differently involved only $800. I had earned it on minimum wage student work study and wanted to buy a moped to help with transportation, which was a terrible problem. Instead, thinking we should always stand by family, I gave my money to bail my brother out of jail for a charge related to his drinking. I never saw that money again and transportation continued to be nearly impossible. I couldn't get to a decent job, or to school easily. Under the stress, I ended up quitting school and did not finish for another 14 years. Whether I bailed out my brother or not probably would have made no difference in how his life went, but I think it could have made a difference in mine if I'd had a way to get around....Nonetheless, I see all my past as having brought me to this wonderful present. I am so blessed and even my losing out on the moped and quitting school was part of what led me here. In a way, the no-moped took me where I needed to be afterall.

[kv968]

I would do the same exact thing I did except just a little differently.

One of the "old-timers" at work beat it into my then 19 year-old head to get into the 401k, at least up to the match. To "shut him up" I did and I thank him for that brow-beating everytime I see him.

The only thing I would have done differently was listen to my own advice and been diversified from the beginning. Instead it was a wild ride of 100% company stock for quite some time. I still have a decent (now diversified) amount in there, which wouldn't have been there at all had it not been for the "old-timer". However there'd be much more of it had I been diversified.

[Gruntina]

I left home when I was 13 and went to my dad's with his family until 17. .. I did not have a clue about saving and investing. I started working every summer starting at 14 and worked year round when I was out of school. I wish I had saved a percentage of money and I wish I knew the option to open the IRA account. I thought it was only offered by employers at the time. How stupid!

I also wished I understood that I had my own power to save for a house myself for the future rather than leave it to "fate". I know... I was pretty naive!!!


now I am on the right track but missed out on compound interest advantages.

[disneysteve]

I would have bought Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway stock.

[anonymous_saver]

I wouldn't change anything about my financial past. I have always saved 25% of what I've earned and put it towards retirement. At a young age, I guess I saw my mom save $100 per paycheck to go into an emergency fund, which I'm assuming taught me to save 1/4th of everything I earn towards retirement.

I am also incredibly lucky that I read Suze Orman's book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke to learn a little bit more about where to put my Roth IRA and other savings. I am incredibly thankful for learning about online savings accounts that pay 5%+ in interest! I'm sure that alone will significantly change my life. Reading this book has also helped my partner who had actually declared bankruptcy in 2004. Now he has a 401(k), a Roth IRA, and significant money saved towards an emergenc fund and a down payment!

Also, the only debt I have ever had (I am 25 years old) is $7,400 in school loans which I paid off before I was even charged any interest. In fact, now that I think about it, I have NEVER spent any money on interst in my life!!!! The only interest I plan on ever having to pay is when I get a mortgage. I have had a credit card to gain credit for the past year. I wouldn't even change the fact that I got my first credit card at a relatively late age at 24.

I understand that I am lucky.

[debtfreeme]

i would have found a better paying job while in community college.
not moved to SF but stayed and studied in Sacramento.
not taken student loans just to travel, although my major was international relations.

stayed in better contact with friends from college
visited home more often to spend time with grandma
waited another year or two for grad school to take out less loans

[deca]

I would have avoided credit cards. I would also have relied on public transportation instead of letting my then-boyfriend browbeat me into taking on a car loan so he wouldn't always have to drive to my place. He was gone long before the payments were.

[The Budget Man]

If I could do it again I would have invested far more heavily in property. Over the years property has always been good to me. Now if only I had taken a deal I was offered about 24 years ago I could have done very well out of it.

Overall it's been an interesting ride. We've been to the top. We've been to the bottom and I far prefer the top.

I'm looking forward to the next couple of years as we're now in 42 different countries and the future is looking good.

[LuckyRobin]

I had the option of buying stock in the national chain restaurant I worked at through a $40 per month (just $10 a week) payroll deduction. That stock was then selling for $17 a share and is now selling for over $100 a share. I didn't do it and I've always regretted it.

I also would never have accepted the management job at that same restaurant that led to me dropping out of college for 2 years at age 20. I went back at 22, but I always feel like I wasted those two years because of a dumb job.

[Fern]

I assume you're talking about strictly financially-related things....

I would have chosen a different college, and a different major.
I would have skipped law school as i wasn't sufficiently committed to complete law school.

I would have invested more time in jobs i got bored with and put down roots, so to speak, in one area instead of transplantng myself as often as i did.

Those would be the biggies.

[savingandinvesting]

The Future

I would have benefited from changing a few things probably but who knows. The key is to focus on the future.

[Hypersion]

Community college instead of a university. But at least I didn't go to a private U for four year like my couson ouch!!!